T.Mills: The Playlist Artist

“Perhaps the best advice I’ve ever gotten was from WilliAm of the Black Eye Peas, who told me “don’t play to win but play to invent.” Travis Mills told me the same thing while we were sitting in the back of his tour bus after his Warped Tour in Maryland. Columbia signed artist T. Mills is a product of Gen Y and this quote, which he tries to live by, embodies his brand.

It is hard to place T. Mills into one genre. While he raps, he also sings, and although he sings and raps his image is that of a punk rocker, while his fan base is something similar to that of a pop star. As an emerging sex symbol/rapper/singer/punk rocker, there is only one term that sums up what T. Mills is all about, and that is a “Playlist Artist.”

Today, most people, especially younger folks, don’t listen through entire albums from start to finish, the way they have long been intended to be played when produced. Instead, they pick their favorite songs/genres and put them on a playlist and listen to that. A song from the Stones can be next to Lil Wayne, which can be next to Green Day, and kids will let that playlist run as if those songs were meant to be played back-to-back-to-back. T. Mills’ overall style is clearly a cross-section of genres. This is reflected not only through his music but in the way he appeals to fans through social media, live performance, and his fashion.

I was turned on to T. Mills because of his massive social-media following. His music videos for the most part all have millions of views and his Facebook and Twitter numbers are in the hundreds of thousands. When I first became aware of him, I thought to myself “how have I not heard of this guy before?” I did a little more research and thought his brand within the world of entertainment is a great one to highlight because it represents how young people consume media. They see no boundaries. The T. Mills brand goes beyond music; he sells a lifestyle.

Not too long ago he caught the attention of Columbia Records through his ever-growing fan-base, cultivated through Warped Tour. Mills started off selling t-shirts and his mixtapes on Warped Tour and slowly worked his way toward performing. Through a combination of face-to-face contact, a mix of a humble, yet magnetic personality, with an aggressive presence on social media (in the beginning Myspace but now Twitter and Facebook), T. Mills developed a dedicated fan base, with the majority of them being female.

It is worth noting that early in his career he intentionally put provocative photos on Myspace to stir interest. While he did not put out anything too revealing, the photos were enough to create an air of mystery around him, leaving the fans wanting to consume more of what he put out. This naturally led people down the path to his music. Today Mills is strongly connected to his fans via twitter and often will be tweeting people in line for his shows while he is on the way there himself.

Mills also is known for constantly updating his Twitter and Facebook with images of his latest style choices and hair cuts and colors. Mills’ presence on social media has strongly contributed to his success and this is one of the key elements that keeps him relevant.

Live Performance

Photo by Brian Petchers

As noted above, Mills’ music does not fall under one specific genre. He has pop/electronic songs mixed with hip hop and rap. His latest mixtape “Thrillionare” did not have very many featured artists on it, which strengthens his own brand. Having lots of rappers on the album would have pigeon-holed him into more of a hip-hop figure and, although many of his male fans may hope for those big features, his management is smart in being very selective in effort to seek a broad following.

The content of his lyrics is not hyperbolic and is easy to relate to. The style of his singing and rapping is also easy on the ears. Where Mills stands out most is in his live performances. He is electric and, after seeing him perform live, my appreciation for his craft skyrocketed. Everything he raps about and the sexual driven image he has built up, through social media, comes alive and is completely apparent through his live shows. When I directed his video for “DIEMONDS” I wanted to highlight this aspect of his artistry because it was so strong. I included it as a major component, because I believe it is a key distinguishing factor for his brand.

His energetic live show is so appealing that it transcends one’s taste in music as the sheer energy takes over.

Self-Marketing vs. Major Label

“I am extremely methodical in my approach to some things, yet other times I fly by the seat of my pants” says Mills, who is rapidly approaching stardom. Colombia and Mills’ management team give him an abundance of freedom to do as he sees best. Mills has made it this far by understanding the ways of the web; giving people quality and quantity content while still maintaining allure. Unlike many artists he is very hands on as far as what is put out to the public. He and his team understand consumer culture in the digital realm as well as the importance of making sure virtually every fan gets attention face-to-face if they show up to his autograph signings.

Mills understands the importance of creative home-grown videos, remarking that his first video, which essentially put him on the map, was shot in less than a day with film equipment left-over from a friend’s video shoot the day before. Videos such as this one and the ones since, after being signed, have kept him fresh in the public eye. His management team agrees that, ironically, their biggest budget video may have been their least successful one to date.

T. Mills on a video shoot. (Photo by Brad Elterman)

Keeping fresh with brand-strengthend, often low-budget, videos is something increasingly seen more often from successful independent artists. In fact, Mills’ career path, although he is signed, remains something you’d see more from an independent artist, which is a testament to the label, which is learning from these successful independent artists and remaining much more hands off.

Colombia has let him dictate his own path with some guidance and the formula is working. I believe, Mills is one commercial hit away from exploding onto the mainstream and sustaining that momentum because of the wealth of content he has put out, his extraordinary live performance, and the sound strategy of his team/label to develop his strong brand and fan-base. It will be exciting to see if he can take the next step, while maintaining his brand as the “Playlist Artist.”

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